​Can I drink the water boiled in a rusty kettle?

Can you drink the water boiled in a rusty kettle? If it refers to an iron container, and the container has no other pollution, it means that there is a certain amount of rust in the container, and the water contained in this container is still drinkable (of course, there must be no impurities such as rust in the water)! In principle, it is not recommended for people who have iron in their bodies and need to supplement iron in certain situations (such as iron deficiency anemia or possible).

Let's take a look at the reasons why stainless steel kettles rust

Stainless steel has the ability to resist atmospheric oxidation, which is stainless in the usual sense, but it also has the ability to resist corrosion in media containing acids, alkalis, and salts, which is also called corrosion resistance.

The surface of the stainless steel kettle has an extremely thin, strong, dense and stable chromium-rich oxide film (defensive protective film), which has the ability to prevent the continuous infiltration of oxygen atoms and continuous oxidation, thus gaining the ability to resist rust. Once this film is continuously damaged for some reason, oxygen atoms from the air or liquid will continue to penetrate, or iron atoms from the metal will continue to separate out to form loose iron oxide, and the metal surface will be corroded. There are mainly the following reasons:

1. The surface of stainless steel accumulates dust containing other metal elements or foreign metal particles. In humid air, the condensed water between the attachments and the stainless steel connects the two into a micro-battery, triggering an electrochemical reaction and damaging the protective film, which is called electrochemical corrosion.

2. Organic juice (such as vegetables, noodle soup, sputum, etc.) adheres to the surface of stainless steel. In the presence of water and oxygen, organic acid is formed, which corrodes the metal surface for a long time.

3. The surface of stainless steel adheres to substances containing acid, alkali, and salt (such as alkaline water and lime water splashing from decorating the walls), causing local corrosion.

4. In polluted air, such as an atmosphere containing a large amount of sulfide, carbon oxide, and nitrogen oxide, when it encounters condensed water, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and acetic acid liquid points are formed, causing chemical corrosion.

There are also stainless steel electric kettles on the market. Generally, the surface container may be made of stainless steel, but the heating components are not all made of stainless steel. In addition, stainless steel is also divided into components and models, such as 204#, 304#, etc. Different models of stainless steel have different incidence rates of rust.

Therefore, a stainless steel electric kettle may not necessarily not rust. It depends on the material of the stainless steel itself and the material of the heating components. Of course, it also has something to do with how well you take care of it. After all, even the best things will have their service life shortened if they are not used properly.

Finally, let’s find out what to do if the stainless steel kettle is rusted.

Here are a few tips. First, wipe it with a cloth dipped in rice washing water, which will be very effective. You can also rub it with a semi-wet cotton cloth dipped in detergent powder, or use a steel wool. Then, use five-clean powder and a wire brush to clean the kettle. No matter which method you use, after removing the rust, you must wipe off the water after each use, because if water remains inside, rust will quickly form, and over time it will be difficult to remove the rust even with a wire brush.